Canada Housing Starts

Last Release

May 31, 2025

Actual

279.5

Units In

Thousand units

280.2

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Jul 15, 2025

Time to Release

27 Days 11 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
333.28 Mar 2021	90.7 Aug 1982	193.25 Thousand units	1977-2025	Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation

In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

Latest Updates

Housing starts in Canada edged 0.2% down to 279,510 units in May 2025, compared to 280,181 units in April and above market expectations of 248,000 units. Urban housing construction in centers with populations of 10,000 or more also held steady at 259,800 units, versus 259,916 units in the previous month. Meanwhile, rural housing starts rose 4.5% to 19,706 units, up from 18,818 units in March. On a yearly basis, actual housing starts in centers with populations over 10,000 increased 9%, reaching 23,745 units in May 2025, compared to 21,814 units in May 2024. Among Canada’s three largest cities, Vancouver recorded a 10% annual decline, and Toronto a 22% drop, both driven by a reduction in multi-unit construction starts. In contrast, Montreal saw an 11% increase, supported by growth in multi-unit construction activity.